OpenAI’s artificial intelligence app store, the GPT Store, will not launch this year as previously announced, but at an unspecified date in early 2024, the company said. The delay is almost certainly due to the leadership shakeup that occurred in November, shortly after the initial announcement.
The news was first report by Axios, which received the memo sent to users and developers. It read in part: “we are now planning to launch the GPT Store early next year. While we’ve been looking forward to releasing it this month, a few unexpected things are keeping us busy!” It also details some upcoming improvements to the new feature, such as a better configuration interface and debug messages.
I have contacted OpenAI and others for further information and will update if they respond.
The store’s launch this month raised eyebrows when it was officially announced at OpenAI’s Dev Day conference in November. Although there was a working mock-up of the store itself and some of the improved models called GPT available for inspection, there were many unanswered questions.
In a Q&A with ousted CEO Sam Altman and CTO Mira Murati, I asked what the company’s plan was for the store in terms of charging customers and paying developers. Their answer was, essentially, “we’ll see.”
Given how loose the launch plan was, and that at least one full week of work was likely lost to the board’s brief but heated battle with the CEO, the delay isn’t much of a surprise. With the winter break approaching, the idea of shipping a major product under pressure while simultaneously navigating a new board and other priorities was probably a non-starter.
For OpenAI customers, GPTs can still be created and shared directly with others, but they won’t be publicly listed or able to participate in any revenue sharing program (if OpenAI decides how to implement it) until it officially launches the shop.
